Introduction
The Club President Femi opened the meeting by testing our knowledge of Toastmasters – both the organisation generally and Bloomsbury Speakers. “You’re going to see a range of speakers” he said: “beginners to advanced. But it’s not like X factor – you won’t get kicked out if you don’t do well!”
The Toastmaster for the evening was Janet who explained that it was her responsibility to make sure that the meeting “ran smoothly with easy transitions and with everyone understanding who’s speaking and when”. She introduced the theme of “addictions” explaining that it was now 42 days since she had last smoked.
She then introduced the functionaries who would be supporting her:
- Joowon – the Timekeeper – explained her role in the meeting and told the speakers “not to panic on the red light” as they still had 30 seconds to use. She even timed herself on stage to ensure no overruns on her part!
- Jo – the Grammarian – said that she would be listening to all language and reporting back on interesting usage. She told us that English has a huge vocabulary but the average speaker only uses 10% of their own. She then introduced the “Word NOT of the Day” – great – and encouraged everyone to use more creative alternatives instead.
Prepared Speeches
The first speaker was Marie with her Ice Breaker speech “It’s My Life” where she used three simple questions she is often asked to structure her speech:
- Where are you from?
- Why did you join Toastmasters?
- What do you do?
She told the story of her decision to move from the Czech Republic to London in her teens, how she had joined Toastmasters to improve her skills and confidence as a speaker and the wide variety of jobs she had tried in her life so far – from aerobics instructor to events manager.
Saija was our next speaker with a No. 2 speech entitled “Green Shoots in the City”. She asked everyone about their stress levels – “Is you boss breathing down your neck?” – and introduced her speech topic: how to deal with stress and avoid burnout. She strongly recommended gardening as a solution and told the story of her mother regaining mobility in a damaged hand through her determination to rid the vegetable patch of weeds.
Adam was our third speaker with his No. 10 speech entitled “FAIL” which we learned stood for Flair – “failing with class”, Action – “never giving up”, Individual – “being yourself” and Learning – “learning from your experiences”. He told us that the difference between achievers and non-achievers in life is their attitude to failure and told the story of Abraham Lincoln who’d encountered many failures and few successes by the age of 40.
Our final prepared speaker Renars gave an inspirational advanced speech “What Makes You Itch?” which told of his decision as a young man to leave his country and find something he loved doing or “die trying”. He told a number of stories including one of reading out loud to his landlady (whether she wanted to listen or not!) in order to improve his English.
Evaluations
Glen evaluated Marie’s Ice Breaker speech. He commended her confident, relaxed stance, good hand gestures and clear structure. He recommended a little more vocal variety and to announce her three question structure upfront.
Barney evaluated Saija’s No. 2 speech. He commended her opening questions and use of examples but recommended that next time she gave more detail on fewer points – he felt she had tried to cover too much ground in one speech.
Kate evaluated Adam’s speech and said she thought he had “upped his game and blossomed for his 10th speech”. She felt that while his pace had improved he was still speaking a little too fast in places.
Ahmed evaluated Renars’ advanced speech. He liked Renars’ use of anecdotes and felt his speech was “focussed, passionate and well-rounded”. He recommended reducing the speed and also trying to speak without the support of notes.
Table Topics
Joe was Table Topicsmaster for the evening and continued the Toastmaster’s theme with a series of questions for volunteer impromptu speakers inspired by “addiction”.
His questions included:
- What’s “so good, it’s bad?”
- Should we be able to live without addictions?
- What’s a good addiction – one you would encourage?
- Is betting good or bad for the country?
- Cannabis is enjoyed in Holland – should it be allowed in London?
- Are Londoners addicted to stress?
Bronia was the Table Topics evaluator and gave very thorough feedback to all participants despite very little time to prepare (the curse of the topics evaluator!)
Awards
Closing the meeting our outgoing president (he has just one more meeting in that role!) Femi gave out the awards based on the votes from the audience:
- Best topics speaker went to John for his answer to “What’s so good it’s bad?”
- Best evaluator was shared by Kate and Glen
- Best speaker went to Adam for his No. 10 speech
Femi also acknowledged key events in two Toastmaster’s ‘careers’ by giving out commemorative ribbons: one to Marie for completing her Ice Breaker and another to Adam for completing his 10th speech (and becoming a Competent Communicator!)
Next Meeting
Our next regular meeting will be held on Monday 24th June 2013 upstairs at The Clerk & Well pub, 156 Clerkenwell Road, EC1R 5DU.
Doors open at 6.30pm for a prompt 6.45pm start.
